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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29709897">In a Week</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/notanotherquarantinefanfic/pseuds/notanotherquarantinefanfic'>notanotherquarantinefanfic</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>In a Week [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Triple Frontier (2019)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M, Fluff, Sharing a Bed, Strangers to Lovers, Weddings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 06:47:48</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>14,477</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29709897</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/notanotherquarantinefanfic/pseuds/notanotherquarantinefanfic</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Agreeing to help out your long time friend Santiago by driving his military buddy down to a wedding turns into a sticky situation when a freak snowstorm traps you and Frankie 'Catfish' Morales in a hotel together</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Francisco "Catfish" Morales &amp; Reader, Francisco "Catfish" Morales/Original Female Character(s), Francisco "Catfish" Morales/Reader, Francisco "Catfish" Morales/You</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>In a Week [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2183400</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>69</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. A Storm Blows Into Town</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>There was nothing worse than a February wedding, well at least one that took place in the frigid northern temperatures you were currently residing in. So you were eternally grateful that your best friend Stella had chosen to have hers down in sunny south Carolina where she had just accepted her first permanent hospital position. She was marrying her first love, a fact you’d usually cringe at but, they were extremely cute together. Stella had met Genevieve through her brothers Will and Benny, well more specifically Will, who had drunkenly run his head through a window one night. This incident resulted in two things, first a nickname that would stick with Will for the rest of his life and a late night call to Stella asking her to come down to the hospital to pick him up. The boys had put Stella down as their emergency contact in an effort to keep their antics hidden from their parents who they knew would only worry. The nurse patching up her idiot brother was none other than Genevieve who was working through her university's clinical course, and the rest? Well, the rest was history. </p><p>You’d met Genevieve, as well as Will and Benny, sporadically throughout the 8 years you had roomed with Stella, first during your undergraduate degree at Boston University and then again at Stanford while attending medical school. You’d choses Stella as a roommate without much thought, but after just a few weeks together you were inseparable up until the day that you were assigned to your residency.  You were slightly jealous when you found out that she would be spending the next four years in the warm embrace of Carolina (and Gen) while you would be living alone throughout the freezing Chicago winters. The pagne of jealousy didn’t last long though, Chicago med was your first choice after all. So here you were, in the last year of residency and in the middle of a brutal -20 degree winter, preparing to drive the 13 hours down to watch Stella get married. You’d considered flying but you knew how fickle airplanes could be in the winter and the last thing you wanted was a delayed flight because a door had frozen shut. Your friends had tried to convince you that driving down alone was far too dangerous a venture and none were more concerned than Santiago Garcia. </p><p>You’d known Santiago your whole life. Him being your brother's best friend resulted in him spending a lot of, some may argue too much, time at your house throughout both your childhoods. Your brother, Parker, was 8 years your senior, an age gap that often resulted in an argument over which one of you was the accident. An argument which usually ended with an agreement that in all likelihood you both were. Every summer from before you were born to the time they left for the military the two boys were a constant presence in your life. Hell, even after he left you’d watched him grow as he passed through your household over Thanksgiving and Christmas breaks. One thing was for sure, if Parker was there Satiago Garcia wasn't far behind. He was also there the day you received the news that your brother had gone MIA and he was by your side at the funeral, as you watched the commanding officer hand your mother the flag your brother had died for.</p><p>After the funeral, life continued to move on around you as did everyone else. You always found it funny how quickly you were supposed to recover from loss, apparently a week was long enough to get over it. At least according to the university and your employers who had started calling with empty condolences that quickly led to the real reason they were calling. Always wanting to know when you’d be coming back. After your brother's passing, Santiago took over his role of big brother to you. He read over your med school applications, scared off potential boyfriends and got all the embarrassing video footage of you at your graduations. He was a permanent fixture in your life, one you hoped you’d never lose. Even now as he continued to blow up your phone in an attempt to sway you from driving up alone, you were thankful for him. Over the past 5 days he sent you lengthy lectures in the form of voice messages and a slew of articles detailing the statistics of winter related accidents. His name pops up on your screen as does a picture you’d taken one night after he'd passed out drunk and you’d stuffed cheetos up his nostrils, an act he has yet to forgive you for. You contemplate ignoring the call, but knowing you were about to go radio silent for the next 8 hours you decide to pick it up.  </p><p> </p><p>"Hey Santi what’s up?" you ask, as you half heartedly spread cream cheese onto a poorly toasted bagel.</p><p>"Have I ever told you how much I value your friendship?” Even over the phone you could hear the layers of charm he was currently plastering on.</p><p>"What do you want?" you say, tossing the knife into the sink. </p><p>"Hey! Who says..."  he starts, but you don't let him finish. </p><p>"Santi I've known you long enough to know your ‘please I need something’ tone by heart" you laugh. </p><p>"Okay well I still value you, but ya I absolutely need a favour" Santiago admits. </p><p>"Shoot." you say taking a bite of the bagel. </p><p>"I need you to pick up a friend of mine, his flight got cancelled. He's in Chicago at the moment, can you drive him down to the wedding?" </p><p>"Ughhh are you kidding me Santi? I’m just about to leave" you say through a half chewed mouthful. </p><p>"Please! He’s a great guy, Gen wants him at the wedding, he was in basic with us, so a frequent visitor to the hospital. He's usually pretty quiet so you won’t have to spend that much time making small talk, which I know you hate." He pleaded. For anyone else a last minute change like this would have gotten a laugh, and nothing more, but this was Garcia, and you knew he’d do anything for you, so you’d do this for him.</p><p>“Fine” you begrudgingly agree “text me his number, I'm heading out in 40 minutes so he'll have to wait at the airport for a bit" you say, finishing your breakfast.</p><p>"You’re a godsend! Seriously, what would I do without you?" He chuckles. </p><p>"Nothing good i'm sure, besides I figure I probably owe you like, 1000 favours after you</p><p>know....'' the phone goes quiet. Five years later and it still stung like it was yesterday, for you both. He was your family, but he was Santiago’s best friend, you knew the loss was equally as devastating for him. You also knew he'd been having a particularly hard time recently, after what he termed a mission gone wrong a few years back. Every time you'd ask about it he’d shut you down harshly refusing to share any details with you. </p><p>"You don’t owe me anything. We're family. Thank you for driving him. I owe you a drink at the wedding!" He responds, back to his chipper self. If it wasn’t for the silence he may just have convinced you that he really was doing fine. </p><p>You toss the phone on the counter and rub your temples mentally rearranging your entire itinerary for the day. You'd already rifled through the gym bag that was constraining way more clothes than you’d need for the week. Everything you needed was there from bathing suits to your wedding outfit to the special lingerie you’d packed in case you ran into an old flame. If by in case you meant, for when you ran into him. You don’t know how but he’d gotten invited to the wedding reception. Stella hated the guy, so it must have been through Genevieve who likely would have felt bad excluding him, even if he was only a friend of a friend.</p><p>You’d met Jonathan in your undergrad and you had been together throughout various points in your life, though never in any official sense. He’d made that evidently clear to you at any opportunity he got. He kept you on a short leash, a retainer if you will. Only coming to you between relationships with women that he deemed worthy enough to be his girlfriends. You knew it was toxic, and your friends constant reminders of how unhealthy it was didn’t fall on deaf ears. The way he would use you and lose you always ended with you being an unstable and emotional wreck, only solidifying his claims of you being crazy. You hated it, the way he made you feel so small, but he held this strange power over you. A power not even you could explain. His redeeming qualities could only be found in the bedroom, he was the best you’d ever had, so you forgave his shitty personality. Always gravitating back towards him, restarting the cycle. You knew what it meant to do the same activity over and over expecting different results, but this was different. At least that's what you told yourself, as you’d traced your hands over the lingeries lace that morning, knowing it was bought for a man who would never appreciate it.</p><p>Brushing all thought of him aside for the time being you grab the duffle off the floor and sling it over your shoulder. Walking out into the cold February air you watch as your breath transforms into a small cloud in front. Your chest hurts and nose hairs freeze as you inhale, tossing your bag into the back seat before leaning into the car and starting it up. The engine sputters for a moment before breaking out into a loud rumble, maybe it was a good thing someone else would be in the car with you after all. You jog back inside to your townhouse and grab the cooler where you’d stored the snacks and sandwiches you’d prepared for the road, now realizing it likely wouldn’t be enough to feed two people. Tossing on your winter jacket you lock the door behind you and slide your sunglasses down over your eyes shielding them from the afternoon sun as you make your way into your car. </p><p> </p><p>~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~</p><p> </p><p>You pull up to the departure gate still cursing at the idiot who had almost smashed into you while they were going the wrong way down a one way street. You hated driving in the city and you couldn’t wait to get out on the open road, even if it was going to be with a total stranger. You find yourself second guessing your decision to drive down state with someone you’d never met. In all reality, even if Santi was vouching for him, he could be a serial killer, plenty of people had nice things to say about Ted Bundy before he got caught. You shake off the nervous feeling taking over your body, deciding to put your faith in your friends judgment, at least for now. Worse comes to worse you had a pocket knife stowed within reach. As long as he didn’t complain about any playlists or podcasts and understood your need for complete silence from time to time, you’d get on just fine. Besides it was only a 13 hour drive, and you could put up with anything for 13 hours.</p><p>You open up your phone and pull up the conversation you and Santiago had been having, scrolling up until you see the contact he’d sent you which read “ Catfish”. You click on it hoping to get the guys real name as a result but no luck, you should have asked Garcia for more information about this “Catfish” guy. You click on the number opting to call, not wanting to waste time wondering if he’d gotten the text you’d sent. The phone rings a few times before you hear someone pick up.</p><p>"Catfish?" you say, less confident in yourself than you had been dialing.</p><p>"In the flesh, who's this?" the deep voice responds.</p><p>"Your ride, Santiago’s friend" you offer, hoping that this wasn't some elaborate prank.</p><p>"Oh shit ya, Pope told me you’d be later than you said. I'm still downstairs" he says.</p><p>"Of course he did the little shit" you mutter, causing Catfish to laugh "Im outside now, departures second floor"</p><p>“I'll be out in a second" he says, hanging up the phone before you can say anything else.</p><p>You plug your phone back into the aux setting it back to the playlist you’d made last night during another bout of insomnia. You're checking your email to see if anything came up from the hospital when a tap at the window causes you to jump. As you look over you see the man who must be “Catfish” gently tapping on the glass. You unlock the door, popping the trunk as you slide out the driver's seat.</p><p>“You can put your bags back here. Fuck!" you exclaim when you trunk won’t open, likely having frozen shut again. </p><p>"Here" he says dropping his bag on the salted pavement and heaving up on the trunk freeing it from its icy constraints with a relative ease causing him to smile down at you.</p><p>"I loosened it" you say defensively, as he tosses his bag in the back still grinning when he</p><p>slams the trunk shut.</p><p>"Fransico Morales, though most people just call me Frankie" he says as you sit back down in the driver seat rubbing your hands together to warm them and applying some chapstick.</p><p>"Y/N, nice to meet you Frankie, seat warmers are here, use as your leisure. There are snacks in the back, but no touching the phone.” you rattle off. </p><p>“Aye aye captain” he responds, saluting you. </p><p> </p><p>~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~</p><p> </p><p>Santiago was right, Frankie was quiet. He offered you little in conversation or any noise at all really.  You’d only heard him laugh maybe twice, once while listening to a podcast episode and then again when Britney Spears made her appearance on your soundtrack. "What? She’s America's sweetheart" you say trying to sound offended, but smiling when you notice his lopsided grin. You’d attempted to open up a dialogue with him a few times, but his one worded responses told you all you needed to know, so you stopped forcing it. It wasn’t a hostile environment, it was more of  a comfortable silence one that you usually only found in people you had known for years. The silence gave you an opportunity to study the man’s features, glancing away from the road every now and then to slowly piece together his profile. You had pegged him as attractive the second his face had appeared in your passenger window, but it wasn't until now that the details that made him so could be seen; relatively tall, tanned skin, soft curls, deep brown eyes. Glancing over again you notice a concerned look spread across his face.</p><p>"What?" you ask, nervous that you’d creeped him out with your excessive, and not so subtle staring. </p><p>"Storms coming our way" he says, nodding up at the darkening sky. </p><p>"We’re not supposed to get snow for another week, I checked” you reassure.</p><p>"Things change" he says</p><p>" Sky’s clear, so we don’t stop for another 3 hours" you say, definitively.</p><p>" Your funeral, well mine as well I guess" he chuckles, earning him an icy glare from you.</p><p>“It's nothing, trust me” you affirm, confident in your ability to read a weather app.</p><p>" No one likes a know-it-all" he mutters still grinning. </p><p>"Could you help me with something" you ask smiling sweetly</p><p>"Sure" he responds, eager to help.</p><p>"Pull up the map and show me when I asked for your opinion"</p><p>"Eyes on the road” he says, causing your grip to tighten around the wheel.</p><p> </p><p>~~~~~~~~~~~~~</p><p>Well crow wasn’t your favourite food to eat, but here you were eating it.  Turns out Frankie was right. A storm was heading your way and it hit hard and fast. You’d managed to make it to a hotel off the freeway just as it came into full effect. What had started as a very pleasant road trip had quickly soured when you refused to apologize for not heading his warning. This paired with the 6 hours you had already driven had left you both irritable so much so that Frankie was now refusing to be any use in respect to figuring out what your next move was going to be.</p><p>"Hi" you say to the equally tired looking receptionist. Apparently, every other person travelling through Illinois had also missed the memo about the storm and were now all stuck at the same hotel. </p><p>"Hi, so sorry for the wait" she says, forcing a smile in a way that you recognized from your retail days.</p><p>"No need to apologize! What are the odds you have any rooms available?" you ask rubbing your eyes in an attempt to keep them open.</p><p>"Let me check, we have one... suite left on the... fourth floor” she says after a few moments of typing away into the computer.</p><p>"Perfect we’ll take it." you say, tapping your credit card to the machine. You walk back over to Frankie who was sitting with the bags and hand him a room key. He exhales deeply, not looking up from his phone as he takes it from you.</p><p>"There was only one room left so we’ll have to share" you say.</p><p>"Fine," he says, standing up, grabbing his bag and heading over to the elevator not bothering to wait for you. You watch as the elevator doors open and close behind him. Sure maybe it was your fault that you were stuck in this situation, but that was pretty rude. You push your way into the room after struggling with the key for a moment. Frankie must have been eager to get to sleep, or at least eager to not converse with you as he’d wasted no time in unpacking his bag and getting ready for bed. Your eyes move from the clothes on the floor, to the suit hung up in the closet, to the closed bathroom door. You hear the toilet flush and watch the door open as you drop your bag down onto the living room floor, grabbing the toiletries out of your bag's side pocket. You were far too tired to wrestle down to your pyjamas so you opted to stay in the leggings and sports bra you’d been wearing all day. Yes it was gross, but you couldn't be bothered to change at this point. Your eyes follow Frankie as he exits the bathroom in a green cotton t-shirt and a pair of plaid boxer shorts. You continue to watch as he plugs his phone in and shifts beneath the covers.  Guess you were on the floor then. The couch was far too small, and you really weren't trying to break your neck sleeping on its arm rest.</p><p>"Pass me a pillow" you huff, as you grab a glass from the nightstand, turning back around to fill it up with water from the sink.  </p><p>Why?" he asks, watching you take a sip from the overfilled cup.</p><p>"So I can sleep on the floor." you state, as if it was obvious.</p><p>“No, I’ll do that, you can have the bed" he says shifting up and pushing the blankets off himself. He hadn’t realized you were so averse to sharing a bed with him, but you had just met so he guessed it was fair enough. </p><p>"I’m not the one with the bad back old man" you state, the words sounding a lot harsher than you’d intended, but you were younger and thus more likely to recover.</p><p>"Fair point, but you’re not sleeping on the floor. Santi wouldn’t allow it. We can put up a pillow barrier between us if that would make you feel more comfortable" he offers, any hostility you had felt from him earlier now turned to tenderness.  In all honesty, you hadn’t realized that sharing the bed was an option.</p><p>"I need two to sleep with so no point in making a barrier" you say, begrudgingly placing the glass back down on the nightstand "Shift" you say, fanning your hand.</p><p>"No" he says looking you dead in the eye "I got here first" he’s grinning slightly, further indicating he’d gotten over his anger from earlier. You could have just walked around to the other side, but for some unknown reason you don’t. Instead, you swing your leg over him pushing yourself up onto the bed, straddling him for the briefest moment before rolling over to the other side.</p><p>"Couldn’t have just walked around?" he chuckles</p><p>"Couldn’t have just shifted over?" you parrot back, moving onto your back, closing your eyes and dozing off.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. The Importance of Being Idle</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Things get easier between you and Frankie as the storm outside rages on.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>TW: Swearing, Mention of dead sibling </p><p>Notes: Thank you for the kudos! This chapter is soft makes me heart HAPPY!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>Day 2</strong>
</p><p> </p><p><span>You don’t know when,or how it happened</span><span>, </span><span>but sometime during the night you had found your way over to the heat</span> <span>being emitted from human furnace Frankie Morales. Your limbs were wrapped lazily around him, with your leg over his and your arm resting idly on his chest. You blink into the light emitting a dissatisfied grumble realizing you had woken up. You hear a sigh from above and  with one eye still closed, you tilt your head up to see Frankie currently hyper focused on winning whatever game he was playing on his phone.</span></p><p><span>"You could have woken me up you know.” You say, detaching from him and rolling over onto your back rubbing your eyes. “How long have</span> <span>you been awake?" you ask, yawning. </span></p><p>
  <span>"Few hours, you’re quite the sleeper, slept through all 4 alarms that went off." He responds, still fixated on his phone.</span>
</p><p><span>"Shit, sorry about that. My mother used to say I could sleep for</span> <span>England" you state, earning a soft chuckle from the man beside you.  Even after years of working on hospital hours, waking up was always a struggle for you, no matter the time of day. After a few moments of contemplating whether you really had to move, you rip off the covers and scoot out of bed. Tearing open the curtains you let out a dissatisfied groan when you see a snowscape where the parking lot once was. You turn around arms crossed, eyes glazed over inadvertently boring into him. You hear him say something but it doesn't register. </span></p><p>
  <span>“What?” you ask, shaking yourself from the trance and moving towards your over packed bag to retrieve clean clothes. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Nothing.” he says, eyes back on his phone. You raise your eyebrows and head into the bathroom to get changed, emerging in sweats and a vintage band shirt that you’d tied at the waist. </span>
  
</p><p>
  <span>"The clash? Nice." Frankie says, as he passes by you into the bathroom, closing the door.</span>
</p><p><span>"Ya London Calling" you respond sitting down on the bed and pulling on some socks, not fully listening to what he had said. "I’m going</span> <span>to ask the front desk if we can renew the room, doesn't look like we're going anywhere anytime soon. I can see if there's another one available if you don’t wanna share" You say, when you hear the doors lock click open, knowing he may still be mad at you for not pulling over sooner. </span></p><p>
  <span>"I mean I don't mind sharing, unless you’d be more comfortable..." he starts, mouth hanging open downturned slightly, as he rinses his hands.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m fine sharing, nice to have some company plus it's cheaper this way.” you say, grabbing the room key off the nightstand.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Let me know how much it is, I'll pay half" he says, stretching out his back, cursing the mattress for being too soft. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I feel like you should be paying more since you get the good half of the bed.” you offer, pointing your finger at him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I think they call that extortion,” he says, grinning  “Oh, see if they have any food while you're down there I’m starving” he calls as you exit into the hallway and make your way downstairs.</span>
</p><p>~~~~~~~</p><p>
  <span>“Hey, I was looking to re-book the room from last night” you say to the receptionist who you recognized from last night. Suppose she got stuck here as well, you wonder if she’d gotten any sleep. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“For how many more nights?” she asks.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“How long do you think this storm is going to last?” You ask. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“At least a few more days, but then the roads will have to be cleared, so maybe a week? We can book you in for two more nights then go from there though, no one else will be coming in”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That’d be great,” you say, taking out your credit card. “What about food, is there any way we can get some stuff to make sandwiches or something?” you ask</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well the culinary staff was trapped here by the storm, another reason why so many rooms were booked, so they’ll be able to have food sent up.” You nod, the hotel was upscale and you hated to think how expensive the food was going to be, but what choice did you have?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It's past breakfast, but we may have some spare sandwiches leftover, let me just go check.” she offers, returning a few minutes later with a couple of boxes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Thank you so much!”  you say taking the boxed up food from her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Anything else I can help you with?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh yes” you say, “booze, can I buy that here?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That, we have plenty of!” she smiles. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span> ~~~~~</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>You re-enter the room with the boxed up breakfasts, a case of beer and two bottles of wine</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Here food” you say, sliding the boxes off the beer and onto the counter next to the fridge.“We missed breakfast, so it’s probably cold, and I booked the room for another two nights, but we can go from there” you say, reiterating the receptionist's words as you place the drinks in the fridge.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Planning on sharing that or?” he laughs watching you strategically maneuver the booze into the fridge</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hey, I get a week off work, I'm going to be drinking. Do I wish it was on a beach in sunny south Carolina? Yes, but this will have to do, and I hate drinking alone so congratulations you’ve just been conscripted” You say, as he empties out one of the breakfasts onto a plate placing it in the microwave for a few minutes. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Here. Do you want this? You say peeling the sliced ham off your sandwich” waving it infront of his face. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Not a fan of ham?” he asks, taking it and adding it into his own.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Not a fan of meat in general, I’m a vegetarian”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Course you are.” he laughs.  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Bold words coming from a guy wearing a baseball hat inside, in the middle of winter” you say, throwing a balled up napkin at his head.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So what exactly do you do? Santi never said.” he asks, leaving you to question what Santiago had said about you.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m a doctor, well almost a doctor one more year of residency, hopefully” you say, crossing your fingers.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Shit, aren’t you kinda young to be a doctor?” he asks, looking you up and down with raised eyebrows.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Older than I look, but thank you. How about you?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I was a pilot, me and Pope served together for a while, but I’m mainly just teaching now. How’d you two meet by the way? I’ve never seen you round base before, I’m sure I’d remember you hanging around” he says.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“He basically lived at my house growing up, well until he went into the military when I was in middle school. ”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I thought you said you weren’t young” he laughs “So you didn't serve?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No, my brother did though, he was a few years older than Santi but they were inseparable.” you state, preparing yourself for the imminent conversation. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Who?” Frankie asks, slightly offended that Pope had a secret best friend he never introduced to him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“His name was Parker '' you say, hoping the past tense clues Frankie in. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ya I’ve met Parker! Good guy what branch is he in these days?” he says, not picking up on your word selection or how your mouth hangs slightly ajar or how your eyes have gone vacant.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Was in” is all you say, you avert your gaze staring down at the floor  “he passed five years ago in active duty” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Shit, I’m sorry I…” he stumbles over his words trying to form a coherent sentence. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Not your fault how were you supposed to know, besides I'm sure you’ve lost your fair share of people.” you say offering him a not very convincing, but reassuring smile. You let the awkwardness hang in the air, not wanting to speak first.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What... kind of doctor are you?” he says, hoping to cut the tension he’d caused.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Medical, diagnostics.” you say, exhaling as the easiness you felt around Franki came back. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So like House?” He asks.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ya cane and all.” you laugh, his lopsided grin having returned to his face, as he leans in to grab your plate. </span>
</p><p>
  <span> “Hey, I uh.. I need to make a phone call.” He says, washing the dishes in the sink.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I'll make myself scarce, give you some privacy. Is it fine if I'm in the shower or did you want me to fully vacate the premise? I can go down to the gym for a bit.” you offer.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Showers perfect.” He says, mentally questioning his word choice there. He waits to hear the water run before pulling out his phone and dialing his mother who was currently watching his daughter for what was only supposed to be a few days. </span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>You let the water wash over you turning on some music to drown out the conversation Frankie was having, not wanting to pry on his personal life. You did find yourself wondering who he was calling just simple curiosity, nothing else. You had decided you liked Frankie despite the rocky start, the more time you spent with him the more you felt like you'd known him for years. You could see why he and Santiago got along so well they were two sides of the same coin, his calm nicely balancing out Santiago's rashness. Or should you call him Pope? What kind of nickname was that, and Santiago was anything but a saint.  You made a mental note to ask Frankie for the origin stories later he may be more forthcoming about it than Santiago. Lathering your hair you close your eyes, allowing Frankie’s image to come to the forefront of your mind. He had an old beauty, a kind of beauty that was suited to a ruler of a long forgotten empire. You begin to feel the water run cold, had you really been in the shower that long? You turn off the tap and dry yourself off redonning your sweats and tying the Clash shirt into a crop. As you exit the bedroom you’re met at the door by Frankie who hands you a cup of coffee.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Thanks” you say smiling up at him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Take it as an apology for being an ass yesterday, I was tired and shouldn’t have thrown a tantrum about it, you don’t control the weather”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well I guess I should apologize as well for not listening to you, especially considering you’re the one with training in navigating radars.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The rest of the day is spent in relative silence breaking into conversation every once in a while about nothing in particular. You sit on the couch reading while he sits in the chair across from you book in hand as the news plays faintly in the background. The storm had been dubbed “snowmageddon” by the anchors, not particularly innovative but it got the point across, 20cm had fallen and another 30 was being predicted you groaned internally thinking about how long it was gonna take you to clear off your car. At least you'd have military help. Dinner comes and goes and he doesn't ask you many questions, unsurprising considering how the last conversion had turned out. Instead you tell him about the weirdest cases you’d ever seen come through the hospital and he tells you about the incidents that got him and Santi sent to the hospital. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Alright I'm going to turn in” he says, as you look up from the rabbit hole you'd currently found yourself stuck in.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Shit ya good call” you say closing your phone and rubbing your eyes. Once again he beats you to the bed, giving him a prime position to watch in amusement as you dig through your bag.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Lost something? Seriously, how deep is that bag? What are you looking for?” he inquires.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Normal pyjamas” you mutter, all concentration currently being used to find something appropriate to sleep in.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What pray tell are normal pyjamas?” he asks, a confused look plastered across his face.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Let's just say a certain king of sleepwear was packed for someone who was suppose to be at the wedding”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Who?” he asks. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ah ha!” you cry victoriously, pulling out your day-to-day sleepwear. You exit the bathroom in the silk sleep set you’d gotten a few years back. Frankie’s eyes widen slightly when he sees you emerge, the pyjamas leaving little to the imagination. If those were your normal pyjamas he didn't want to think about what the other ones were. The last thing he wanted to do was make you uncomfortable by coming off as a creep. Which he was already feeling like by ogling you as you bent over the sink spitting out your toothpaste. His eyes dart down to look at his hands as you walk around the bed to bed, only looking up once the covers are pulled up over you. He turns off the lamp and settles into the mattress, placing his hands on his chest and closing his eyes. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Please for the love of god, stop moving” he mumbles after 15 minutes of patiently waiting for you to stop wriggling. Your eyes open as you shift again, completely aware of how annoying you must be to him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I know I'm sorry, I‘m just..” you move one more time, balling your fists up and slamming them into the mattress in frustration.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Not comfy” he finishes for you, eyes opening staring up at the ceiling. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ya especially since someone took my side of the bed” you bemoan. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Look, you’ve already slept wrapped around me once, so you can... do it again. If it’s the easiest way for you to sleep.” he says hoping the offer comes off as sincere, and not weird. You chew your lower lip for a second before accepting the fact that it was the only way you’d be able to sleep. He lifts his arms above his head allowing you to position yourself comfortably on top of him, before lowering them down. One hand on his stomach and the other wrapped around your shoulder.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Don’t even think about trying...” you start, eyes batting sleepily up at him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I know you don’t know me well, but i'm not like that. It's not good or fun unless everyones fully and consensually on board.” With that you ease into him, trusting his words. Breathing deeply you drift off to sleep to the smell of clean laundry that you’d come to associate with Frankie.  </span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Day 3</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“Hey I'm going to the gym if you need to make a call or whatever” you say, pulling on your sneakers, feeling refreshed from the good sleeps you’d had the past two nights.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Thanks,” he says, watching you leave before calling to check in on his daughter.  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hey mom how is she? Good good ya, put her on would ya? Hey darling how are you! Yes I'm going to be home soon. Were just stuck in a big snow storm, did you see it? I wish you were here then we could build a snowman together! Yes just like Elsa and Anna. Yes we can watch them when I get home and absolutely I will try and save you a snowball. Alright, okay, I love you.” He says, a few minutes was more than he’d expected from the kid, toddlers aren’t known for their keen telecommunication skills after all. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hey mom, thanks again for watching her. This storm came outta nowhere. We're going to miss the wedding, I know they’re gonna be pissed. That’s not a swear Mom! No, I'm not alone. One of Santis friends she's a doctor. Yes, I mean I don’t know! Why does it matter? Look, I'm hanging up now. I am. No I won't be doing that I love you, I'll call later.” he hangs up shaking his head. Despite what everyone around him thought, the last thing on his mind was dating, his kid was his number one, scratch that, his only priority especially since her mother disappeared in the night. Leaving nothing but a note about having other reasons to live. Whatever the hell that meant. He hears the key unlock the door and watches as you re-enter, not stopping to make conversation, bee-lining straight for the shower. Knowing he’d have a good half hour to kill he dials his phone again.</span>
</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hey Pope” he says, taking the opportunity to call his friend and deliver the bad news.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hey ‘Fish where the hell are you guys?” he shouts from the other end, evidently in a crowded room.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Trapped by the storm, we're not gonna make it.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Shit Gen’s gonna lose it, and Stella if it wasn’t for her four sisters Y/N would be in the wedding party they were roommates for years.” He stresses. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Damn, ya man i'm really sorry, she's in the shower, but I can pass the phone to her when she's out?” Frankie offers.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No man, don't bother her. I'll text her in a bit. Hey you guys sharing a room?” he questions, the agenda behind it obvious. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Wasn’t much of a choice, rooms were all booked up.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You're sleeping on the floor I hope” A protective tone taking over.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You know my back’s bad Pope.” he explains calmly, hoping to de-escalate the situation.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Catfish you better keep those hands to yourself, she's not one of your nightly conquests” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Man I haven’t been like that since my kid came along” He chuckles, knowing full well that those days were long behind him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I'm a serious ‘Fish, she's too good for you, and she's in no place to be fucked over by another guy alright?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Look I know she'd never go for me Pope and I'm flattered you think she would. Glad i'm still handsome in your eyes.I’ll call you later” he laughs, ending the conversation on a lighter note. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hey” you say, pulling your Boston University sweater over your head, drying out your hair with a towel.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Pope says hi” Frankie says, hanging up the phone</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What's the nickname mean?” you question, ready to get to the bottom of it. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That's top secret information” he taunts, shaking the phone at you.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh I'm sure I could figure out a way to get it out of you.” you smirk, raising your eyebrows</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hey! I have military training!” he exclaims, offended at the insinuation.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Military's got nothing on me.” you retort, slapping him on the shoulder as you pass by.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, if the plan is to ply me with alcohol, it may just work” he confesses.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Perfect” you say, heading to the fridge opening up the wine bottle “let the games begin” you say tossing  him a beer bottle watching as he uses a lighter to open it before bringing it to his lips.</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“So tell me what does Pope mean?” you ask after a few hours of meaningless conversations and playing a drinking game that went along with the forensic files repeats you were watching. “Is it a dick thing” you whisper yell, causing Frankie to burst out laughing.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Why? You wanna know what it looks like?” He asks forehead creased the trace of laughter still etched on his face.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ew No! but I am asking if it looks like a Pope?” you say trying to hide your amusement with a stern look.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Which Pope?” Frankie asks in an equally serious tone, curious as to where you were going with this. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Francis?” you ask.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Nope” He answers after pausing for a moment.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Fred?” You ask, now entrapped in a bizarre game of guess who, but in reference to what holy figure most resembled your friends penis.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Was there a Pope named Fred?” He asks unsuccessfully, stifling a laugh.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Probably? There were like three Popes at once at one point in time.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No his dick doesn't look like the Pope, now can we please stop talking about my best friend's penis!” he exclaims. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Fine, but this isn’t over.” you say chewing your lip trying to think of other possible explanations when a phone ringing interrupts you thought. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Shit, Sorry I have to take this,'' he says, pulling out his phone and walking to the next room, forgetting to close the door, leaving you to inadvertently eavesdrop on his conversation.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Good night sweetie I love you to the moon and back I'll be home soon.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Your eyes go wide as you feel your stomach sink,  of course he was married, he was too nice, too easy, something had to have been off. A ick comes over you at the thought of being unknowingly draped over a married man, and you suddenly begin questioning Frankies motives. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sorry about that. It's my daughter she uh, I didn’t say goodnight to her last night and she missed it” he says with a slight chuckle, pride evident on his face. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“How old is she?” you ask smiling at how he lit up at being asked about his kid.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Three” he says, grabbing another beer and grunting slightly as he sits back on the floor next to you.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Good age” You offer, shaking off the feeling of betrayal and disappointment that had come over you for a brief moment. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ya she's perfect” he beams.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I bet, I mean I don’t know what your wife looks like, but if she's got your eyes watch out world.” You offer turning to face him only to see that his smile had faded, replaced instead by a somber hurt. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Her mothers not in the picture” He says, clearing his throat and taking a long drink.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Shit Frankie I'm sorry” you say quickly, feeling like a prize idiot for making assumptions about his character. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hey I brought up your dead brother, only seems fair you bring up my ex who abandoned us.” He says with a shrug. “Don’t, don’t look at me like that” He says, shaking his head and knitting his brows together tired of being looked at like he was broken. It was horrible when it happened. It was fucking shitty that she had left her daughter without a care, but now? Hell, he wouldn’t trade it for anything. Watching his daughter grow up was worth it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Fuck” you say, scrunching up your face “I hate when people do that to me.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You need another drink?” he offers, hoping to ease the sudden awkwardness into the room, one he was accustomed to after telling his dates about his kid, not that this was a date. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ya I need it to wash the taste of foot out of my mouth” you laugh, feeling worse than when your brother was inadvertently brought up. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Seriously don't worry about it. Speaking of a palette cleanser you wanna watch a movie or something?” he says pouring the rest of the wine into your glass, before grabbing another drink out the fridge for himself. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ya but it's gotta be horror, the only thing i'm in the mood for.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Didn’t think bringing up my ex was that scary.” he laughs, handing you the glass.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No, but talking about Santiago's penis was.” You deadpan, causing Frankie to snort out his drink. “What? Do all the girls say that about it? A real nightmare?” you continue, giggling as he coughs through a laugh. “Was it the inspiration for the creature from the black lagoon?” for some reason the stupid bit your doing causes Frankie to double over subsequently encouraging your own laughing fit. After the ache in your side subsides Frankie sits down on the couch next to you. Using his sleeve to wipe any spillage from his beard. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Any preference?” you ask, leaning your head back against the couch. He shakes his head. “Alright, the Conjuring it is! I gotta pee first though, need anything before we start?” you ask, walking towards the washroom.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Just you.” he calls out, as the door closes behind you. Fuck, why the hell did he say that. He shakes his head at how desperate it sounded. Jesus christ, he was embarrassing. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>You were just tipsy enough that the bathroom's bright lights made you feel wobbly. You cross your arms as you pee, thinking about the words you’d just heard, about how he needed you. Well maybe that was a reach, but it was okay to pretend just for a night? In all honesty, even though this wasn't a date, it was definitely the best time you'd had with a guy… ever, something about him was just so easy. You flush the toilet and open the door washing your hands, hotels were so weird, why wasn't the sink in with the toilet? You felt like you needed to wipe the handle down after every use. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>You flop back onto the couch next to him, closer than you’d been when you left, but leaving enough space between you. After a few jump scares that catch even the pilot off guard the two of you found yourself snuggled into each other. You knew the movie was getting to him, because the arm wrapped around your shoulder pulled you closer into his side whenever the ominous music began to play. He wouldn't say the movie was getting to him per say, it was just in his nature to protect others. Even if it was just a stpid movie he wanted to make sure you felt safe. After the movie ends you quickly separate from each other and clear up the glasses, leaving them to ‘soak’ overnight. Frankie gets to the bathroom first, again. Thirsty, you wander back out to the kitchen grabbing a glass and filling it with water jumping when you think you see a shadow move out the corner of your eye. It was strange, how you loved horror so much while watching it but the second it turned off, any sounds, or hat rack or shadow scared the living daylights out of you. At least this time there would be another person with you. After getting ready for bed you switch off the lights and make your way to the bed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What are you doing?” Frankie asks, watching you lift up the bedskirt peering under the bed. “Are you seriously checking under the bed right now?” He laughs, unable to get over how you, a medical professional was afraid of ghosts. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Better safe than sorry!” you exclaim eyes wide as your head pops up. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You can't believe in this shit can you?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hey man you get sleep paralysis then tell me that shit isn’t plausible” you respond pointing a finger at him, before pushing yourself off your knees and up onto the bed. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>You crawl under the covers and sit up parting your hair to braid it before going to bed. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Can I ask you a weird favour” he asks, you panic slightly, fuck he was too good to be true, no way a guy was that sweet without an alterior motive.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yes, but proceed with extreme caution” you say.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Can you teach me how to braid hair? I want to be able to do my daughter's hair but I’m pretty terrible at it. Her teacher once asked if she'd gotten caught in a bush on the way in.” Your heart jumps slightly, at the sincere revelation. How, how could one guy be this sweet, and thoughtful and not creepy? </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Of course I can show you.” you say and you proceed to give him a step by step tutorial, followed by a demonstration prior to actually letting him have at your hair so he can try and replicate the motions. Once he got the motion down you’d mistakenly tried to show him how to french-braid it down from the top.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Be honest doc, how bad is it.” He says. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, maybe we shouldn't have tried a french braid quite yet.” you say laughing feeling the matted mess currently on your head. You turn upon hearing him groan, watching  as he leans back into the pillow bringing his hands up to hide his face. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“For someone who's a pilot i'm shocked you can't do this.” you say, hand reaching up to salvage your hair.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Are you judging me?” he says, sitting back up when he sees you struggling to untangle the mess he’d made. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Maybe a little.” Your breath hitches when you feel his hand grazed against yours. You drop it to the side upon contact allowing his fingers to work gently at removing the knots. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Are pilots supposed to be good at braiding?” he asks. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I just assumed if you could weave in and out of the sky you'd be good with your hands.” you laugh as he frees the last of your hair from the prison he'd made. He watches as you effortlessly put your hair back up into tidy braids.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You make it look so easy,” he says. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well practice makes perfect, but look on the bright-side, now you have a sure fire pick up line that'll work on all the MILFs you'll be dating!” you exclaim turning back to smile at him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Malo '' he mutters, pushing your shoulder slightly as you giggle, dramatically falling back onto the bed and pulling the covers up over you. It doesn't take a moment before you're back around him, breathing silently, and fast asleep. He wasn’t far behind you, he never used to sleep well in hotels, or at all really, not after the mission, but something about this place made it easy. He's sure it's nothing to do with the idle hand on his chest or the rhythmic beating of the heart belonging to the person draped over him.</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. This Feeling</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>With the wedding day finally here will your true feeling be revealed or will you leave the way you started? As nothing more than strangers.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>THE FINALE (for now??), this story was so nice to write and all y’all r angels for just reading it let alone liking it (really i could cry💕🌻💕) so thank you🥺🥺</p><p>Song used in Story: This feeling - Alabama Shakes (highly rec u listen!!)</p><p>TW: mentions of toxic relationships, allusions to sex (nothing depicted), PTSD, smoking, drinking, swearing</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <h2>Day 4</h2><p> </p><p>It had only been three days but you had found yourself in a routine that you hoped you never fell out of. Each morning he’d wake up first and you’d be predictably wrapped around him for another 2 hours or so. He found it hard to believe you were able to wake up before 10am, let alone that you were up at 5am most days but he’d love to be around to see it happen. For the first time, he saw something he’d long given up on. A future with someone else ingrained into his and his daughters life. Maybe it was stupid feeling this way after a few days, but he was old enough to know when he felt a real connection, and he’d never felt as good as he did when he was with you. He would make his feelings known to you, one way or another, he;d regret it forever if he let you slip through his fingers. He just had to find the right time to do it. It had been a long time since you’d woken up with someone in the same bed as you and even longer since the person was someone who made you feel safe and secure. There was something calming about knowing that even if you pushed your freezing cold feet between his calves in the middle of the night he wouldn’t get angry, or push you off he’d just grumble and pull you closer.</p><p>It sounded pathetic but it was the nicest a guy had been to you in years. You knew how stupid it was to catch feelings this fast, and it definitely wasn’t like you to feel such strong emotions. Since the funeral you had actively decided to forego them although. This benefited your work, helped you in your field, made you a better doctor, but keeping all your emotions bottled up took its toll. Primarily on your love life. You’d had your fair share of flings with other residents, nurses, friends of friends, but between classes and shift work there wasn’t time. Plus what was the point when you had no idea where you’d be moved to. At least that’s what you told yourself.</p><p>Then Jonathan came along and you’d let him in, let him know you and you fell for him in the process. Then he’d started dating someone else, told you he didn’t realize you were exclusive, and it shattered you completely. You’d pieced yourself back together and once you were better, once you were finally over him, he’d cycle back round to you, determined to keep you on retainer. The whole ordeal had left you tired. You’d never had a real relationship and you were already done with them. You never understood how people would want to live with someone for the rest of their lives until now. Catching feelings had always happened in periphery to your life making it easy to push by a crush by simply avoiding them, but you couldn’t avoid Frankie. Each day you spent trapped inside with him he’d continued to grow on you, cementing your feelings for him tenfold. You yawn and stretch your leg out over Frankies torso propping yourself up onto your elbow so you can reach over him and grab the glass of water on the nightstand. He exhales as if your movement across him is an inconvenience to his meticulous strategy for winning whatever game he was playing on his phone. You take a sip and put the cup back down, rolling off the bed and opening the curtains.</p><p>“Hey!” you shout, causing Frankies head to shoot over to you, “It stopped snowing!” you exclaim, gazing out over the parking lot where the snow had fallen. The powder undulating overtop the cars buried beneath it. You stretch your arms up catching an unsavoury whiff coming from your armpits causing you to pull a face. Turning around just in time to see Frankie laughing from the bathroom door.</p><p>“Seriously man? Do you have to beat me to everything!” you pout, crossing your arms over your chest.</p><p>“Gottta be faster sweetheart.” he says, closing the door behind him. From anyone else the term would have driven you into a rage induced frenzy, but it was endearing not condescending coming from him. You take the time to call Stella, you’d been texting with her since you got stuck but you felt it was time to officially announce your arrival as permanently cancelled.</p><p> </p><p>“Hey girl”</p><p>“Hey babe what’s going on? You calling with good or bad news?” she asks, a constant bustle evident in the background.</p><p>“Don’t shoot the messenger, but only bad news on my end. I am so fucking sorry, I should have just flown down like you said” you offer, leaning back agabst the window allowing the chill of the outside to cool you off.</p><p>“Well this is why you should always listen to me, but i’ll forgive you just this once.” she laughs.</p><p>“God I can’t believe the one wedding I actually care about I’m going to miss!” you exasperated, shifting away from the window and flopping down onto the bed.</p><p>“Well I definitely won’t miss you, especially considering you’ve already sent a gift.” she teases.</p><p>“How, very dare you” you punctuate.</p><p>“Yup long con paid off, 10 years I pretended to like you just to get you to buy me a toaster from ebay” Stella laughs.</p><p>“You could have just stolen mine after the first year, then you could have had me gone!” you state.</p><p>“Ugh a huge mistake!!” she overemphasizes dramatically, causing you both to burst out laughing.</p><p>“So….” you say after your giggles subside leaving a gentle ache in your ribs that always occurred when you talked to Stella.</p><p>“What?” she asks, sniffling.</p><p>“ Did John make it out there?” you ask, in a painfully transparent way.</p><p>“Why?” she spits, her tone suddenly lethal. She hated the guy, she was the one who was always left dealing with you after he’d used you up, helping to piece you back together, just in time for him to get a hold on you again.</p><p>“He asked about me?” you query, once again failing to convey your intentions.</p><p>“I’m not indulging this anymore, it’s bad for you. He’s bad for you, there’s only so many times I can watch him emotionally manipulate you” she rants.</p><p>“Ya, but it’s easy and it’s so good with him.” you emphasize.</p><p>“It’s not easy, take it from someone in an easy relationship, it’s not supposed to hurt that much.” she chides, determined to have you see the light.</p><p>“But..”</p><p>“Nope, I’m drawing the line for you, find someone else. You’re a gorgeous single doctor,</p><p>“Almost doctor” you interrupt, but the statement is ignored.</p><p>“Aren’t you currently shacked up with one of my stupid brothers friends?”</p><p>“Yes? And?” you say, your heart suddenly beating faster as your head turns to see Frankies hat on the nightstand.</p><p>“Frankie right? Statue like, soft curls, kind, deep brown eyes? And don’t pretend like you didn’t notice I know you like the back of my hand!”</p><p>“So what if I have, doesn’t mean..” you whisper, not wanting him to hear you.</p><p>“Nope, don’t sell yourself short, I say get cozy with him and finally move on from dickhead McGee, even if it’s just for a night, cleanse the palette. Besides, you know he’ll be doing whoever looks his way at my wedding.” you hear a muffled shout “alright I have to go, something about the bridesmaids fighting.”</p><p>“Your sisters? Fighting? Who could have seen that coming” you deadpan.</p><p>“I know, god I wish you were here.”</p><p>“I wish I was as well i’ll call tomorrow in case you get cold feet, I have a five point plan”</p><p>“I won't” she chimes.</p><p>“ I know because you love her”</p><p>“And I also love you” she says</p><p>“And I love you” you respond before hanging up. Not even a minute after hanging up you get a call from Santiago</p><p>“Hey, I just wanted to verbally apologize for trapping you with ‘Fish, though he’s definitely one of the better ones to get stuck with.” he says.</p><p>“Well that’s good to know” you laugh, rolling your eyes.</p><p>“He hasn’t tried anything has he? If he has I’ll kill him, and get away with it, you’ll have to help me with the body but…” Santiago starts.</p><p>“Santi, it’s fine he’s cool, really sweet, actually,” you offer heat rushing to your face for some unknown reason.</p><p>“Good. He touches you ill..” he warns.</p><p>“You’ll kill him ya I got it!” you snap, you understood why Santiago felt like he had to play big brother for you but sometimes he was a touch overbearing. “Is John there?” you try and ask casually, failing to head Stellas advice.</p><p>“Don’t…” Santi starts, you can practically hear his jaw clench over the phone “you know if I see him tonight i’m gonna knock him out for how he treats you”</p><p>“It wasn’t that bad.” you whisper.</p><p>“It was, still is, I heard him bragging about how if worse comes to worse he always has his plan D,” he offers, not to hurt you but to try and free you from the cycle.</p><p>“That dick. You know what Stellas right, fuck him!” you exclaim with a newfound determination to rid him from your life.</p><p>“Oh my god, are you finally seeing the light?” Santi asks “Praise the lord!” He shouts up into the sky.</p><p>“Ya I guess so” you say staring at Frankie as he dries his hair with the towel. “I gotta go, see you soon.”</p><p>“Not soon enough” he laughs as you hang up.</p><p> </p><p>“Whose that?” Frankie asks, still curious about who you’d been hoping to see at the wedding and what they’d done to earn your affection.</p><p>“Pope!” you say with a smile, pushing your back off the bed and sitting up.</p><p>“Threatening to kill me?” Frankie predicts.</p><p>“Ya we have a plan” you murmur.</p><p>“We?” he asks, a twinkle in his eye and his mouth upturned at the sides.</p><p>“Well he’ll kill you but, I cant have him go to jail so i’ll have to hide your body.” you explain</p><p>“Good glad that got sorted” he says, his smile now in full effect.</p><p>“I’ll go grab some breakfast” you say.</p><p>“No ill get it, you’re always getting it, plus gives you time to shower, I can smell you from here.” He prods, grabbing the key.</p><p>“Rude!” you yell out after him.</p><p> </p><p>He’s back when you exit the shower</p><p>“Oh thank you, you say grabbing the plate form him”</p><p>“Just what the doctor ordered, hey?” he asks, smiling stupidly big.</p><p>“Ouuuf that that was bad truly apologize to me” He laughs at how serious your face gets “You’re laughing? I had to listen to that joke and you’re laughing?” you say through a mouthful of eggs. “Here’s something that’ll wipe that stupid smile off your face, snow stops which means we have to clear off my car.”</p><p>“Using the royal we are we?” he asks</p><p>“Think of it as repayment for the pun,” you say waving your fork in his face</p><p>“How will we be clearing it off?” he asks, leaning over the counter.</p><p>“Brush” you say, as if it’s obvious</p><p>“Where’s the brush?” he asks, resting his chin on the back of his hands and smiling sweetly at you, waiting for an answer.</p><p>“In the….oh” you say, face dropping when you realize that the brush was in the car currently buried under a snow pile.</p><p>“Not so smart now” he laughs pushing back off the counter taking your empty plate with him, washing it up for you.</p><p>“Well I guess we just have to get to the door with our hands then” you say smiling.</p><p>“Once again, about this we,” he says, drying his hands on the dish towel, turning to see a dramatic pout plastered across your face.</p><p>“Fine, I’ll only help because I think you may disappear in the snow if you go in alone” he responds, the truth was, he couldn’t deny you.</p><p> </p><p>You both get dressed into the most winter proof clothes you had, neither of you having packed for a snowy expedition. As you exit the room you see him grab a pack of cigarettes he’d been hiding, not wanting you to see his worst traits.</p><p>“Those will kill you, you know,” you say, causing him to roll his eyes dramatically.</p><p>“Okay mom” he laughs grabbing the lighter despite your disapproving glare,</p><p>“You have a daughter to think about” you say, feeling like you’d be letting your profession down by giving up so easily.</p><p>“It’s why I smoke, the safest way to calm the nerves while staying clean” he murmurs with a look on his face that is enough to get you to drop it for now. You weren’t about to pry into his struggle with addiction and you certainly weren’t one to judge, you’d faced similar issues after your brothers passing.</p><p>“I used to smoke,” you confess as the elevator doors close in front of you both.</p><p>“Seriously?” he remarks, not able to believe it.</p><p>“Pack a week for about a year” you say, slowly nodding your head as the two of you walk through the foyer towards the parking lot.</p><p>“You quit?” He asks, impressed.</p><p>“Ya I dont think it was long enough to form a habit. When did you start?” you offer as you move your legs through the snow, it was dense your legs would be sore tomorrow.</p><p>“What? Are you gonna assess the state of my lungs?” Frankie laughs, moving easily through the snow you were struggling so hard against.</p><p>“Yes, but i’ll only tell you the results if you want to know”</p><p>“Few years back, after…” he stops himself before confessing the worst thing that ever happened in his life.</p><p>“The mission” you finish for him, remembering how Pope had picked up similar habits once he finally returned home. “You were there with Santi?” you question</p><p>“He told you about it?” he asks, sterner than you’d seen him before, he was afraid that you knew what a monster he was. You shake your head, no and he thanks the gods. “You think i’m going to?” He queries lighting up a cigarette and taking a drag, making sure not to blow it out anywhere near you.</p><p>“I don’t know, maybe. It’s the one thing he wont tell me about, figured it would be easier for you if you were talking to a stranger about it.”</p><p>“Not much of a stranger now” he laughs, but there was something behind his eyes, a similar sadness that you saw with Santi when he talked about it. Your thoughts are interrupted when something cold hits you in the face, your mouth drops open, your forehead scrunches in disbelief.</p><p>“Shit, I wasn’t aiming for your face I swear!” he looks up panicked</p><p>“I guess it’s what I get for asking so many questions” you say, hand still over your face playing into it as you formulate your attack.</p><p>“No, oh my god! No! It wasn’t because of that, let me see” he says, you let your hands drop and you smile wickedly up at him. Before he has time to react, you rub a handful of snow into his face.</p><p>“Oh… you’re gonna pay for that.” he draws out, wiping the snow from his face.</p><p>After 15 minutes of all out war, and a brief truce that was to be officially signed once back inside you managed to get to the door handle and lean into the back seat grabbing out the brush. You offer it to Frankie, but he’s already started clearing off the rest of the car with his arms.</p><p>“Hey can you grab my spare charger out of the compartment there?” you say cleaning off the trunk, the front doors now accessible.</p><p>“Ya, holy shit is this a knife?” he asks, pulling out a knife.</p><p>“Maybe.” You say staring into his eyes as his mouth hangs open in amusement. “For safety, I didn’t know who I’d be driving up with! You coulda been a murderer” you explain palms up.</p><p>“And you were planning on what? shanking me?” he laughs a huge smile on his face, weirdly endeared by your thought process.</p><p>“Only if I had to.” You say chuckling between shivers, the cold now seeping through your makeshift snowsuit hitting against the sweat you’d worked up.</p><p>“You want it?” He offers.</p><p>“No i’m good, thanks”</p><p>“Because you dont think I’m a murderer or because you have another one hidden in the room already?” he laughs, but he stops when you tilt your head slightly and raise your eyebrows, averting your eyes.</p><p>“Wait, do I need this knife?” he calls as you trudge back through the snow.</p><p> </p><p>You both change into less sweaty attire and you settle into the couch turning on to watch the latest forensic files rerun. You shiver as you sit down having caught a chill. Noticing you shaking, Frankie goes to the wardrobe and grabs down a spare blanket throwing one at you so it lands directly over your head. He laughs when he sees you slowly turn towards him beneath the blanket, like someone in a makeshift ghost costume.</p><p>“Excuse me!” you laugh</p><p>“Hey you should be thanking me, can’t have you freezing to death.” he says, “Are you asleep under there?” he asks, when you don’t respond</p><p>“I’m not a cat! I don’t fall asleep when someone throws a blanket over me!” He’s not paying attention to what he’s doing and the bottle in his hand shatters against the counter, a shard slicing his hand open.</p><p>“Fucking shit.” you him sigh.</p><p> </p><p>“Are you okay?” You ask maneuvering out from under your blankets to see Frankie in the kitchen, glass on the floor and blood coming down his arm.</p><p>“Wow you’re out of my sight for 2 seconds and you maim yourself” you say laughing, stopping when you see the panicked look in his eye, the event evidently triggering something deep in his psyche. You quickly stand up and he goes to move towards you.</p><p>“No don’t move Frankie, stay where you are.” you reassure softly, watching as his eyes lay into your own, his breathing calmer now “You’re in socks, can’t have you cutting your dancing feet” you say.</p><p>“You’ve heard of my dancing feet,” he says, grounding himself again.</p><p>“Only bad things” you say, throwing him a pair of shoes that he carefully puts on before moving toward the closet where the broom is “No come here, let me see your hand. The mess can wait, you’re more important,” you stress leading him over to the couch and sitting him down.</p><p>“Wow, first time I’ll be able to afford professional health care “ he jokes as you take his hands in your own.</p><p>“Ow” he says when you press down onto the hand to assess the damage.</p><p>“It’s fine, not deep enough for stitches, should heal up on its own. I still want to clean it though, to stop any infection.” You return with a small bottle of over priced vodka opening it and dabbing some onto a cotton pad. He doesn’t flinch when the alcohol cleans the wound and he watches as you bandage his hand up.</p><p>“You carry a med pack with you on every trip?” he queries, but you don’t hear him you’re too focused on wrapping his hand.</p><p>“There! good as new,” you say standing up and cleaning up the glass on the floor. “Hey did you bring a swimsuit?” you ask, dumping the glass into some newspaper that was left in the room.</p><p>“Why?” He asks.</p><p>“Answer the question Frankie” you say, folding the paper around the shards before placing it into the trash.</p><p>“Yes, you wanna go hang out at the pool with the fifty families stuck here?”</p><p>“Ya. You don’t? Seriously this room is wildly expensive and has a huge jacuzzi tub, I’m getting in your welcom to join, but bathing suits are mandatory.” you offer.</p><p>“I was gonna get in fully clothed,” he offers, not missing a beat.</p><p>“Perfect even better”</p><p>As per usual he beats you to the punch and settles into the tub that was more akin to a hot tub than a bath, he wanted to get in first partially to annoy you and partially so his body wouldn’t be on full display, he wasn’t as jacked as he once was and he’d become insecure about certain areas that he’d let go once his kid came along. He watches as you walk in and his eyes can’t help but follow your figure around the room, a beautiful person behind a beautiful personality, he thanks the universe for placing him into your orbit.</p><p>“That why they call you catfish?” you ask drawing him from his daydream back into an equally pleasing reality.</p><p>“What?” he responds, blushing at having been called out on his gawking.</p><p>“Cause your mouth hangs open like a fish out of water when you’re zoned out” you smirk, lowering yourself down into the tub.</p><p>“Rude” he says splashing after you settle in.</p><p>“Alright, Frankie, what is it?” you ask, causing his face to look up to you “what’s your deal, apart from smoking? You gotta have flaws”</p><p>“Wouldn’t you like to know.” he charms</p><p>“Sinister” you laugh, but he doesn’t, you reach your foot up tapping his cheek with it,</p><p>“Disgusting,” he chuckles, grabbing it and rubbing the arch before pushing it back into the water.</p><p>“God, I miss the ocean” you confess, “ I hate the city sometimes.”</p><p>“You’re not planning on staying in Chicago after you’re done?”</p><p>“Nope, gonna get myself out to the coast, or at least somewhere without winters.” you say stretching your arms out across the tub. “How about you, are you planning on staying?”</p><p>“ Probably, no reason to leave, plus it’s close to my mom so she can take care of Arianna when I’m at work, though I wouldn’t be opposed to moving if the opportunity presented itself she’s young enough that it wouldn’t be too hard.” he says, wanting you to know that if you asked, hed follow you anywhere.</p><p>“Arianna, beautiful name. Did you pick it?” you ask looking up when a few minutes of silence pass. As you do you notice that the somber look from early had returned. “You okay?” you ask.</p><p>“I don’t deserve her, I don’t deserve something so good.” he states, suddenly realizing he didn’t deserve someone like you either. You wouldn’t be sitting in the tub with him if you knew what he’d done.</p><p>“Frankie that’s not true” you reassure</p><p>“You don’t know the shit I’ve done. I’m not… I’m not a good person,” he says, still not looking over to you.</p><p>“Well, I…” you begin to refute.</p><p>“Seriously, I’ve done bad things… awful things’’ he clears his throat, afraid to look at you, afraid you’d be terrified by him.</p><p>“People make bad mistakes, but that doesn’t make them irredeemable, not if they are willing to change. You understand what you did was bad, that says something.” you reassure, knowing the guilt was likely left over from the military.</p><p>“Well, wise words coming from someone who’s never done anything bad”</p><p>“You don’t know me that well Frankie, I’ve done my fair share of stupid things, crappy things to numb the pain. It’s what we do to make up for those shitty actions that count. At every turn, you’ve shown me that you’re not an evil person. Everything I’ve seen is good, and funny and incredibly kind.” you finish and you continue to nudge him with your foot until he finally cracks a smile.</p><p>“Well now you’re smiling again, my missions complete and it’s time for bed” you say stepping out of the tub and drying off, unaware that you’d just made Frankie fall even harder for you. His eyes helplessly following you as you leave the bathroom.</p><p>“Since I’m an outpatient, does that mean I get the good side of the bed?” he calls out after you. You roll your eyes but let him have it, you preferred the sleeping situation the way it was.</p><p> </p><h2>
  <b>Day 5</b>
</h2><p>A thunk followed by the unmistakable beeping of the snowplows working hard at clearing away the snow from the roads and parking lots wake you. You let out a disappointed sigh when you notice the distinct lack of Frankie beneath you. Almost as if on cue he walks in with a bottle of champagne, orange juice and two glasses.</p><p>“Are you ready to get wasted?” he says, as you shift up in bed.</p><p>“On one condition.” you offer smacking your lips mouth tasting like morning.</p><p>“Which is?” He asks, tilting his head.</p><p>“We get fully dressed up for this wedding. I didn’t spend hours contemplating outfits to not put one on.” you barter, prepared to fight with him to get what you wanted.</p><p>“Absolutely,” he agrees, much to your surprise “that tux was not cheap, and it was supposed to be back two days ago, so not getting that deposit back. Should we call the brides to be before we start drinking?”</p><p>“Probably a good call,” After multiple phone calls and various congratulations you found out they were going to be live streaming the ceremony for all the people stranded by the storm. You and Frankie have a lazy morning before it’s finally time to get ready, you stand up swaying slightly from the few drinks you’d already downed. Frankie takes the suit into the bathroom giving you the room to change and to do your hair and makeup. You go to pull out your dress and as you do the lingerie you’d packed falls out onto the floor. Your heart drops for a moment before deciding to put it on, not for Jonathan, or even Frankie, but for yourself. You pull on the light pink velvet mini dress you’d settled on, and sling on the black open toe heels. Walking into the kitchen you pour yourself a glass of wine. You hear him clear his throat and you turn around. You’re taken aback by how well Frankie cleaned up, no hat, hair styled and a perfectly fitted suit.</p><p>When Frankie enters the room, he stops in his tracks, continuing to stare when you turn to face him. If this had been at the wedding, he’s sure he’d have picked you out of the crowd instantly. He’d probably have spent the whole night hoping you’d talk to him only getting upset when you didn’t even give him a second glance.</p><p>“Cat got your tongue?” he asks, breaking the silence first, beyond pleased at how he’d managed to impress you.</p><p>“Something like that” you offer, handing him a beer</p><p>“Well, we’re in luck because I was specifically told to provide drinking games for the reception, so” he says pulling out some red solo cups and ping pong balls from his bag.</p><p> </p><p>“Who’s bad with their hands now” he asks as he sinks another cup, winning 4 consecutive games.</p><p>“No fair! You're cheating.” you say with a humph.</p><p>“I’m not, your technique’s just sloppy and lacking strategy” He mocks.</p><p>“I have a strategy” You state defensively, mouth open in faux anger.</p><p>“Flashing yourself in an attempt to distract me, isn’t a strategy” he says licking his lips as his smile turns into a full blown smirk</p><p>“Excuse me.” you say, crossing your arms over your chest shifting your stance and arching an eyebrow, challenging him.</p><p>“Oh I’m sorry, is that not what you’re doing?” he chides, smirk still prominent.</p><p>“Well it use to work” you mutter, embarrassed at having been called out</p><p>“Ya on idiots who can’t control themselves come here, I’ll show you to sink it everytime,” you walk over and he positions himself behind you, he’s close enough that you can feel his chest heaving slowly behind you.</p><p>“Relax your arms” he says, shaking them out for you. “Okay this arm, drop it, keep it relaxed, only use it for balance if needed. This arm..” he says grabbing your wrist “ this is where the action is, alright keep your elbow locked, none of that wobbly shit I saw earlier. It’s all about the flick and the follow through, keep it strong.” He watches as you repeat the motions without his hand guiding you and it goes in. You turn around and lift your arms up victoriously, they quickly find their way around Frankies neck and he lifts you up off the ground, faces dangerously close when he puts you back down on the ground.</p><p>“We should order a pizza, I think some places are open” you say quickly turning to your phone and ordering something from wherever it was open.</p><p> </p><p>After watching the ceremony, you’re sitting on the counter laughing as Frankie proves to you he can in fact eat an entire piece of pizza in three bites.</p><p>“Told you” he says</p><p>“Well consider me out witted” your phone beeps, you turn it over assuming its Stella or Santi or Gen but it’s not. It’s John the second you see his name pop up on your phone your stomach drops. Frankie sees the change in your demeanour, everything about you suddenly appearing small. Frankie grabs the phone from your hands “I swore an oath to prevent shitty guys from ruining the party tonight”</p><p>“How did you…? Whose orders? Did Santi tell you?”</p><p>“Maybe. Holy ….” Frankie says eyes wide when he accidentally sees the message that has been sent to you.</p><p>“What?” you ask, afraid at what he’d just seen.</p><p>“Nothing!” he lies, shaking his head blinking hard to get the image out of his head.</p><p>“Now you have to tell me!” you say hopping off from the counter and making your way towards him. Reaching for the phone which he’s holding over his head. Your place you hand on his shoulder trying to balance yourself as you make another grab for it, but you’re not even close. You plant a kiss on his cheek causing his arm to drop immediately allowing you to grab the phone.</p><p>“Ha!” you say, failing to notice the dejected look on Frankie’s face.</p><p>You’re walking towards the counter to reply when something comes over you, maybe it was the way Frankie had made you feel these last few days, maybe it was finally coming to your senses, but you turn back to face him. You stare up at Frankie whose eyes are on the ceiling.</p><p>“Can you delete him, from all my shit, and block the number” you ask, offering him your phone.</p><p>“Really?” Frankie says</p><p>“Ya I can’t do it but I want it done,” you say, pushing the phone towards him, more vigorously this time.</p><p>“Well it’d be my pleasure, guy sounds like a dick,” he says, taking the phone from you and scrolling through wiping away any remnants of the dude.</p><p>“Thanks” you say as he hands the phone back to you.</p><p>“What did you see in him? Well actually based on the photo he sent maybe I understand,” he murmures.</p><p>“Francisco Morales” you say, mouth agape.</p><p>“I’m not the one who sent it!” he says lifting his hands up in defense.</p><p>“You wanna dance?’ he asks “I got the playlist from Pope, may as well have some fun, really forget about Jackson.”</p><p>“Jo.. you know it doesn’t matter and you’re right,” the both of you dance like idiots for a while, twirling around the room in an embarrassingly cliche way that would be better suited to a John Hughes movie than a makeshift wedding reception. As the next song begins, the slow pacing shifts the tone.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <b>I just kept hoping, I just kept hoping</b>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <b>
    <em>The way would become clear</em>
  </b>
</p><p> </p><p>You stop your dancing, as does Frankie and a dread akin to that of being at your first middle school dance wondering if you’ll be asked to dance or not comes over you. You both stare at each other for a second before Frankie offers you his hand, if he was waiting for a moment, this was it.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <b>I spent all this time</b>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <b>Tryna play nice and fight my way here</b>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <b>See, I’ve been having me a real hard time</b>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <b>But it feels so nice to know I’m gonna be alright</b>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>He pulls you into him and you sway in time to the music. One hand on your lower back, the other one holding your hand as you rest your head against his shoulder. His thumb gently rubs over yours. The sensation comforts you causing a wave of relief which causes your eyes to water.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <b>So, I just kept dreaming, yeah, I just kept dreamin’</b>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <b>It wasn’t very hard</b>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <b>I spent all this time</b>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <b>Tryna figure out why</b>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <b>Nobody on my side</b>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>“You okay?” he asks, hearing you sniffle, you nod looking up at him and he briefly untagles his hand from yours to wipe away the tear that had fallen</p><p>“I’m sorry, if I…” he starts softly, thumb tracing gently over your cheekbone.</p><p>“No, it’s not you, well it is, but it’s not bad” you offer, satisfied with the response he takes your hand in his again and continues swaying.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <b>See, I’ve been having me a real good time</b>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <b>And it feels so nice to know I’m gonna be alright</b>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <b>So please, don’t take my feelings</b>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <b>
    <em>I have found at last</em>
  </b>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <b>So please, don’t take my feelings</b>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <b>I have found at last</b>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <b>Yeah, if I wanted to, I’d be alright</b>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>“why’d you decide to delete him” Frankie whispers, barely audible</p><p>“Moment of clarity I suppose” you say into his shoulder.</p><p>“Which was?” he presses, not looking down to you.</p><p>“Just realized how I could have been being treated in a relationship.”</p><p>“Should have been being treated,” Frankie corrects.</p><p>“I can’t believe I let him do that to me for so long, im so stupid” you mutter</p><p>“Blames not on you, blames on him for not realizing what he had, seriously if I had you id….” he stops himself not wanting to take advantage of a vulnerable situation.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <b>So I just kept going, I just kept going</b>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <b>And hoping I’m growing near</b>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <b>Well this good and fine, I spent all this time</b>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <b>Tryna find my way here</b>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <b>And I’ve been having me a real fun time</b>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <b>And it feels so nice to know I’m gonna be alright</b>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>“You’d what” you ask, having mustered up enough courage to finally find out if what you were feeling was reciprocated.</p><p>“Id never let you go, at least i’d do everything in my power to make sure you’d want to stay with me”</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <b>Please, don’t take this feeling</b>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <b>I have found at last</b>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>You reach your hands up to his face and pull it down to meet yours, lips colliding for the first time, but the sensation washing over you felt familiar. It felt like you’d finally come home.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <b>Please, don’t take my feeling</b>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <b>I have found at last</b>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>He slowly moves the two of you back towards the bed never departing from your lips for more than a moment.</p><p>“You uh..you sure you want to do this,” he asks, as you run your hands up and down his back.</p><p>“Ya, you?” you question looking up at him through your lashes.</p><p>“Yes, absolutely.”</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <b>If I wanted to, I’d be alright</b>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <b>Yeah, if I wanted to, I’d be alright</b>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>The sun from the blinds that had been accidentally left open seeps into the room. The warmth hitting your naked shoulder. You smile when you look down to see Frankies arm wrapped loosely around your waist.</p><p>“Well my long con worked, I finally got the side of the bed I wanted,” you tease.</p><p>“Mmm” he says as you shift round to come face to face with him kissing his nose. His eyes flutter awake and he smiles, kissing you on the forehead as you snuggle into his chest for a moment before moving to get ready for the day. His arms tighten around you trapping you against him.</p><p>“Frankie, we have to get moving” you giggle.</p><p>“Nope, I was serious last night. I’m not planning on letting you go”</p><p>“So I’m trapped here forever?” you laugh</p><p>“Would that be so bad?” he wonders, and you settle back into him knowing that nothing would be better than spending the rest of your days here with him.</p>
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